


Porcelain and Window Panes

by worriedpeach (skeletonflowers)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Shops, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Shyness, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:30:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonflowers/pseuds/worriedpeach
Summary: Dan sees a a beautiful man doodling on a foggy window in a cafe and can't get him out of his head. He comes everyday at the same time to see the beautiful stranger.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Deutsch available: [Porcelain and Window Panes (German)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545642) by [just_inka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_inka/pseuds/just_inka)



> Thank you to judgementaltrash (on tumblr) for this amazing prompt! It took so long to write this for some reason (I've been writing it since October???) and I'm so happy I could finally get it out! Special thanks to theinsanityplays as well for giving me some feedback for this fic ^-^ I hope everyone likes it!

To say Dan was having a terrible day was an understatement.

He woke up late, having forgotten to set an alarm for work, so he had to rush through his morning routine. This meant he wasn’t able to take an hour long shower like he was used to and he couldn’t straighten his hair. Thanks to genetics, his hair dried in curly ringlets that stuck out in every direction.

He also had to skip breakfast, which is bad in itself, but he soon found out that his coffee machine had stopped working as well. Dan with curly hair and no morning caffeine? Not a good idea.

So he went for the best option of going to the nearest coffee shop and ordering a french vanilla latte to go.

The wait was nearly impossible to sit through, especially with Dan’s habit of being too impatient for his own good. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, practically quivering in his shoes at each name that was called. His eyes were frantic while he tried to distract himself from the inevitable doom that was this horrible morning.

His gaze ended up landing on a man. He couldn’t have been much older than Dan, a porcelain complexion making his cheeks look especially rosy in the winter cold. He was sat by the window with a half empty coffee in a porcelain mug. From where Dan was standing, he could just make out a small heart drawn in the froth of the drink. But that wasn’t what caught his attention, no.

What caught Dan’s attention was how the man was doodling in the condensation on the glass window.

It was a strange occurrence. No grown man would usually be drawing in the fogged window. But here he was, a calm expression on his face as he drew a little christmas tree, moving to then doodle presents under it. His fingers were long and pale and touched the glass so delicately, as if he were caressing a lover.

“French vanilla latte for Dan!”

Dan shook his head and turned away from the doodling man, taking his drink from the barista with a light smile. He took a sip of his coffee and it was good. Really good. He’d definitely have to come here more often. But that thought could wait because he was already late for work and that just couldn’t slide this time.

With one last glance at the man by the window, Dan left. He couldn’t help but to ponder the way the man’s expression was so carefree. So oblivious to the world around him.

As Dan walked quickly to his work, coffee in hand and curly hair flying around his head, he couldn’t help but wish that he could be that peaceful.

-

Dan found himself in the little coffee shop (he now noticed it was named The Caffeinery) only a few days later, his feet seeming to bring him there of his own free will. He wasn’t late for work this time, having a day off for once, so he allowed himself to fully appreciate the atmosphere of the little family-run shop.

As soon as he walked in, a gust of hot air and scent of espresso was hitting him in the face, immediately warming his rosy cheeks. He lowered his black scarf a little and rubbed his hands together, attempting to warm himself up as he waited in line. His eyes flitted around the shop, searching, surveying. For what, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he couldn’t complain when his gaze fell on a semi-familiar head of black hair.

Dan’s lips curved upwards at the sight of his slender fingers tracing patterns in the fogged window, just as carefree as last time. It was refreshing to see such a thing, and Dan decided to get his coffee to dine in rather than to go.

He ordered a white chocolate mocha and the barista called his name after five minutes of waiting. The drink was presented in a delicate ceramic mug and a heart was drawn in the foam, something that Dan hadn’t exactly been expecting but wasn’t upset to see. It was an accurate representation of the peaceful aura around them and Dan decided then that he would return in the future.

He took a seat next to the windows, close enough to the black-haired man, but far enough away that he didn’t have to succumb to his social anxiety. He tried not to pay much attention to the man, tried not to seem like a stalker, but the man was far too into his own thoughts to even notice Dan there at all. From where he was sitting, Dan could see that the guy was doodling badly drawn portraits of dogs and cats and even a Christmas tree and a Menorah.

Dan wanted to ask the man why he was drawing all of that stuff, but he couldn’t find it inside of him to disrupt the silence and just sipped on his coffee instead. The foam stuck to his upper lip as the hot liquid filled his mouth. He let out a contented hum, closing his eyes as the familiar taste of white mocha calmed his nerves.

Why he was nervous, Dan didn’t know, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the reason for it was because of a stunning man only a few seats before him.

When he opened his eyes, it was to a pair of bright blue ones looking right back at him. Dan’s entire body felt warm and he didn’t know whether it was because of that heated stare or because of the hot drink he was downing. He tried to blame it on the latter, but it was hard to think at all when the man smirked at him, those blue eyes shining before turning back to the fogged window.

Out of embarrassment, Dan drank his coffee a bit too fast. It burnt his throat, but he hardly noticed. He didn’t look at the Doodling Man until he left, too mortified that they’d made eye contact to even try attempting.

But when he spared one last look as he opened the glass doors, the cold air biting him in his face, Dan couldn’t help but smile softly. Because on the glass of the window was a small, badly drawn picture of a man with a fringe. And while that could definitely be a self-portrait the man had drawn, Dan had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t.

Dan didn’t know what to do, his cheeks flaming as he ducked his head, staring into the swirling brown depths of his coffee. He tried his hardest to get his thoughts together, to stop himself from thinking so hard, but this mystery man was just so endearing that he could hardly get his mind off of him.

Maybe, if he were someone else, Dan would get up from his chair and sit beside the man. He would ask his name and try to get to know him. Maybe he would even ask him on a date.

But sadly, Dan was, well, Dan.

So he sat. And he sipped his coffee. And when his coffee was gone, he stood from his chair and made his way over to the door.

Except, with a quick burst of confidence right before he sprinted away from his table, he put his finger to the glass and he drew. In his wake was a small doodle of a sun with sloppy words next to them that read, “Have a good day!”

Right before he turned the corner and disappeared out of the shop, Dan could have sworn he even saw the man staring at Dan’s doodle, smiling gently to himself.

But of course, it could have been his imagination.

-

“Where’s your head at, Howell?”

Dan turned to stare at his friend and coworker, Louise, with curiosity staining his features. He cocked his head to the side, having a weird moment where he felt like a dog. “Excuse me?”

She smiled at him, reaching up to mess with his hair and brushing his fringe out of his eyes. Her own blue eyes were sparkling at him. “You’ve been staring out of the window for the past ten minutes. Something on your mind?”

Dan shrugged. “I suppose the sugar from my coffee’s just getting to my head.”

If only she knew just how much it really was.

-

Dan found himself taking time out of his usual lazy day just to make a weekly trip to The Caffeinery. When weekly visits seemed to be too little time spent zoning out and staring at bad drawings in condensation, Dan moved his weekly trip to two days per week. Then it escalated to three times per week.

Of course, this was just because the coffee at The Caffeinery was extremely good. That’s what Dan has been trying to convince himself of, at least.

It was mildly true, in Dan’s defense. The coffee was the best he’s ever had, swirling with cream in a white porcelain mug. If he ordered just a plain black coffee, he would get a large thermal and a black porcelain mug that reflected his inner soul. There was a variety of music playing softly through the speakers, ranging from awful 70’s pop to modern Indie. There were vases with flowers on each table, vegan and gluten-free cupcakes in the display case with pastel pink icing and a raspberry on top, and friendly chatter that was a gentle hum in the back of Dan’s head.

It was arguably the best coffee shop Dan has ever been to, but he couldn’t deny that there was another reason that made Dan keep coming back. And maybe, just maybe, that had to do with a certain black-haired man who liked to draw on condensation-y windows.

His name was Phil. Dan had learnt that a few days ago when he’d somehow managed to turn up to the shop earlier than the subject of his admiration had. The employees hadn’t even had to ask for the man’s name, giving him wide smiles and asking him how his day was going instead. Phil, in turn, had explained that he was trying to escape from his flatmate’s new puppy who liked to pee on his feet whenever he saw him. The fact made Dan smile, his stomach clenching an embarrassing amount.

Phil paid, and a few seconds later, the barista was calling his name, bright and clear and for the entire world to hear, and Dan could hardly keep his excitement in when he finally, finally, learnt the name of the man he’d been pining after for weeks. Phil. It suited him.

Even though Dan had gone to the little coffee shop just for Phil in the first place, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to look at Phil for long periods of time. It was like he was trying to stare at the fucking sun or something, trying to look at Phil without actually looking at him. Like Phil was too beautiful of a creature to properly look directly at.

So he simply didn’t look at him straight on. Instead, Dan would give him little stares out of the corner of his eye, pulling up his laptop and pretending to type something when he was actually zoning out at the gorgeous stranger before him. Sometimes, Dan would even sit with his back facing Phil, staring at him from the reflection of the screen.

It was pathetic. Dan was pathetic. He was twenty-five years old and couldn’t even talk to other human beings that he so obviously fancied.

He did notice one thing, however.

When Dan had walked into the coffee shop on that first day, Phil was lost in his own little world. He was beaming even though there was nothing that made him smile in particular. Everything he did was joyous and upbeat, and it made the entire atmosphere just a tad nicer.

After a few weeks, that changed, just a little bit more every time Dan entered the shop. Over the next month, Phil’s attitude seemed to change completely. He stilled doodled on the windows, still drank his coffee slowly, but he’d do so with a slight downturn of his lips. Dan wanted to look at him, see what he was drawing, maybe even ask what he was sad about, but he held himself back. He grounded himself, trying his hardest not to make a fool out of himself.

He didn’t want to freak out a pretty man that he’d practically been stalking for the past few weeks.

Phil didn’t seem to get better at all, to the point where he eventually stopped drawing in the condensation and instead just sat there with his mug between his hands. He would only be there for about ten to twenty minutes before getting up, disposing his mug in the dish bucket, and promptly leaving. Each time, Dan stared after him desperately until Phil was out of sight, leaving behind a window with a large swipe through it - probably so he could see out the window to the streets - or completely void of disturbance at all.

Dan didn’t know what was wrong, but he was too afraid to find out. What a fucking wimp, he was.

It was after a week where he hadn’t been able to go to the coffee shop at all due to work responsibilities that something strange happened. He had been shaking with anticipation, wondering how Phil was doing and if he was feeling better, his stomach clenching as he thought about the coffee he’d been lacking the entire week along with the pure desperation just to get a glance of that beautiful, gorgeous face he’d grown so accustomed to.

The barista grinned at him as he walked in. “Dan!” She exclaimed, making Dan’s eyebrows raise a little in surprise. “You haven’t been here in forever. Same as usual?”

Dan smiled back and nodded eagerly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Phil’s figure, looking tense. “That sounds wonderful. It’s great to be back,” he replied softly.

Then it happened, and Dan felt as if his entire world crumbled.

As soon as Dan was finished speaking, Phil grabbed his porcelain mug, set it forcibly in the dirty dish bin, and stiffly walked out the door. Dan frowned, knowing that it probably wasn’t he who was making Phil upset, but wondering if he had somehow pissed off Phil without knowing. But how could that even be possible? He’d never talked to Phil before, never even had a proper conversation. So how could he have upset Phil?

It was dumb, he was dumb, but maybe Dan just was one of those people who always thought everybody was mad at him for no reason at all. That had to be it, because there was no way a stranger he’d never even talked to before was pissed at him. It just wasn’t level headed of him to think.

But when it happened two more times, Dan was pretty sure he wasn’t just imagining it. It was bothering him, making him wonder what he could have possibly done, making him wonder why the subject of his interest was so opposed to even being in the same room as him. The situation was seriously making Dan upset. Every time Phil would leave, the people working would give Dan a knowing look, as if they understood why Phil was leaving, as if they knew exactly why Dan suddenly had a sad look on his face.

That’s why Dan made a plan. Come the weekend when he didn’t have work, Dan would arrive earlier than he usually did. He would see if Phil was there, see if he could possibly catch him before he left, maybe even get Phil to let Dan know what was wrong and why he couldn’t stomach being in the same room as him. He didn’t know if it was going to work, if Phil was even going to be there or if Dan would get enough guts to actually talk to him in the first place.

All of his thoughts seemed to still, though, when Dan saw Phil through the window of the Caffeinery. He froze in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring when people knocked into him and proceeded to curse at him for stopping so suddenly. There was a roaring in his ears and Dan’s heart quickened in his chest. He could feel his cheeks flaming already.

Phil was there as per usual, sitting at the table by the window. He wasn’t drawing in the window, but he was sipping at his drink, the froth leaving a little mustache on his upper lip before he licked it away. Instead of being tense, he was relaxed and reading a large book, his lips twitching up in a small smile. He seemed like the Phil that Dan had seen all those weeks ago, completely carefree and void of any negative emotions. Without Dan there.

If this didn’t steel Dan’s fears, then he didn’t know what else would.

With a newfound energy, Dan was suddenly crashing through the door. He didn’t stop at the counter to order his drink, knowing they would probably start making it for him regardless. When Phil took sight of Dan, his demeanor changed to a frown, and Dan was completely positive that he had done something to make Phil hate him.

He came to a stop at Phil’s table just as Phil was bookmarking his page and seemingly ready to get up to leave. Phil froze at Dan’s presence and his eyes were wide when he took in Dan’s sweaty and panting form. He didn’t say anything, just stared at Dan with something like surprise on his face, his lips parted slightly. He didn’t say anything, not like Dan would have given him a chance to anyways.

Before Dan could wimp out, he was speaking, his words pretty much melding together into one single breath, words without spaces. His face was going even redder as he spoke, but he pushed it aside. This was important. This was a life or death situation. “Are you mad at me? Because I don’t really know what I’ve done but whenever I walk into the shop you always seem really upset and you started leaving whenever I come in but when I saw you through the window you seemed really relaxed and like your usual self? I dunno maybe I’m overreacting but I don’t want you to be mad at me and I just- yeah.” Dan cleared his throat, voice going quieter with his embarrassment. “I just need to know if I’ve done something?”

Phil stared at him. He stared and stared and stared until Dan was certain he’d just ruined any chances with this guy. Dan was about to apologise and scramble away when Phil chuckled, hiding his smile underneath his hand. His blue eyes were gleaming, and for once, it was at Dan. “You’re really daft, aren’t you?” Phil asked nonchalantly.

Dan spluttered. “Excuse me?”

Phil was shaking his head. He let his hand fall, showing off those beautiful pink lips once more. Up close, they looked even more kissable. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for weeks. I thought you rejected me, if I’m being honest. But it seems like you weren’t even aware of it yourself.”

Once again, Dan was at a loss for words. He gaped at Phil, his mouth dropped open. “I- What?”

How could Phil be so calm? He had an easy smile on his face and he was cool and collected with each of Dan’s dumbfounded questions. If Dan were in Phil’s shoes, he would probably be shaking like a leaf. “In the window?” Dan stared at him and Phil snickered. “I asked you to join me for coffee one day in the condensation. You didn’t notice so I tried again the next day and the next, but you never answered me. I figured you were ignoring me and not interested.” He shrugged as if to say ‘it’s as easy as that’, but Dan was still having fucking heart palpitations.

After another moment of Dan’s silence, he finally shook himself, trying to come up with an answer for Phil. His brain seemed to be fried though, because he just gasped out, “You want to get coffee with me?”

Phil laughed loudly, his eyes crinkling and his entire face brightening in a smile. He didn’t cover his mouth with his hand and his tongue poked out cutely between his teeth. Dan decides right then and there that this is what a God looks like. “Isn’t that what I just said?” Phil mused, and his eyes were fond even though they’d never spoken before. “I’ve been pining after you for weeks, I think you definitely owe me some coffee after making me go through that.” Phil voice was teasing and it made Dan laugh, his entire body relaxing along with his racing thoughts.

All this time, Dan had been worried that Phil hated him when it had been the exact opposite. He really was daft, wasn’t he?

“I’d buy you a coffee now, but it seems like you beat me to it,” Dan said dramatically, complete with a huge offended sigh as he gestured to the porcelain mug sitting on Phil’s table.

“Looks like we’ll have to meet here again tomorrow then, huh?” Phil asked. “What a shame.”

Dan smiled widely, feeling his dimple make a cave in his cheek. His chest was literally buzzing with butterflies, warmth filling his entire body. “I suppose so,” he agreed.

The huge misunderstanding was definitely worth it, in Dan’s opinion. It goes to show what their personalities were like, making a rather funny ‘how we met’ story to anybody who wondered.

And he truly couldn’t complain. Especially not when he was sitting in a small coffee shop only a few months later, a gorgeous man with blue eyes and a cute smile drawing pictures in the condensation of a window. Except this time, Dan was drawing with him too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


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